Napkin-clasp



1. H; POOLE.

NAPKIN CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. i919.

Patented May 20, 1919.

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tinnen sfia'rss PATENT A session `JOHN H. POOLE, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BROCKTON MANU- FACTURING- COMPANY, 0F BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

NAPKIN-CLASP.

' ratenteuMay 20,1919.

Application filed February 5, 1919. Serial No. 275,264.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. POOLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, in the county or Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Napkin- Clasps, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention has for its chief object to provide means for securely holding a safety napkin in a predetermined position on the body of the wearer, and is embodied in the improved clasp hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

V*igure 1 is a side view of a clasp embodying the invention, and of a portion of a strap supporting the clasp.

Fig. 2 is an edge View of the same.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View illustrating the operation of engaging a napkin with the clasp.

Fig. i is a View similar to Fig. 3, showing the napkin gripped by the clasp.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing a modification.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

My improved clasp is formed from a length of resilient wire and comprises a neck 12, adapted to be engaged by a strap s and two arms connected vby the neck and crossing each other, the crossing portions being slidable on and held in contact with each other by the resilience of the wire. Each arm includes an inclined inner portion 13, and la jaw 14C formed by bending one end of the wire, the said arms forming, with the neck 12, a napkin-receiving opening 15, having a V-shaped throat, the apex of which is at the point where the arms cross each other. The jaws 14: are separable from each other, as shown by Fig. 3, by inward pressure exerted, as by a thumb and finger, on the arms 13. When said pressure is released, the jaws spring inwardly toward each other.

The arrangement is such that a portion of a napkin n may be conveniently passed through the opening 15 and between the jaws 14 when the jaws are separated, as shown by Fig. 3, the napkin bearing on the V-shaped throat of the opening 15. When the pressure on Kthe arm portions 13 is released, the jaws spring inwardly and grasp the napkin. When strain is exerted on the body of the napkin in the direction of the arrow w (Fig. f1), a porti-on of the napkin bears on the V-shaped throat of the opening 15 and acts as a wedge to force the oppositely inclined portions of the arms outward and the jaws inward, so that the jaws are firmly closed upon the napkin and prevent movement of the gripped portion of the napkin in the direction of the arrow y. The body portion of the napkin which may be supported between two of the described clasps, is held firmly, therefore, in the predetermined position required.

To release the napkin it is necessary only to repeat the operation illustrated by Fig. 3, and pull the napkin out.

Two of the described clasps may be attached to two straps s (one to each strap), the straps depending from a belt adapted to surround the body of the wearer.

It is obvious that the clasp may be used to engage one end of a towel, o-r other like article, the opposite end of which hangs loosely, the clasp being supported in any suitable way as by a strap s depending from a belt. A napkin or towel may thus be conveniently secured detachably to the person of a waiter.

The neck may be formed in any suitable vway, to engage a supporting device, and

may, for example, be provided with a loop 17, as shown by Fig.v 5.

The jaws 14 are formedto overlap and move beside each other in parallel planes, so that they grip the interposed portion of the napkin more firmly than would be the case if they -did not overlap.

I claim 1. A napkin clasp formed from a length of resilient wire, and comprising a neck, two arms connected by the neck, and jaws formed on the ends of the arms, each arm including an inclined portion crossing the inclined portion of the other arm between the neck and jaws, the said arms and neck forming a napkin-receiving Opening having a V-shaped throat formed by said inclined portions, the jaws being ,separable from each other by inward pressure on the arms, and thev arrangement being such that a portion 0f a napkin may be passed through said opening and another portion interposed between said jaws when the latter are sepaj rated, the napkin portion bearing on the in- 2. A napkin clasp substantially as specielined portions kof the arms forming said fied by claim l, the said jaws being formed 10 throat, aetingas -a wedge to forcesaid porand arranged to overlap and-move beside tions outward andthe jaws inward, s0 that each otherv in parallel-planes.

the jaws are closed upon the napkinv por- In testimony whereof I have aixed my tion interposed between them when strain is Slgnature.

exerted on the body of the napkin, substantially as'deseribed. JOHN H. POOLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

